Exemplary Admitted Students Scope Out Choate Life During Spring Visit Days
By Ali Cooper ’09
News Staff Reporter
Spring Visits days are exciting times for the Choate community. They mark the arrival of hundreds of accepted students about to decide whether Choate is the right community for them. This year’s Spring Visit days took place on Thursday, March 27th, on Monday, March 31st, and on Friday, April 4th.
On the March 31st visiting date alone, eighty families walked up to the Library Reading Room at 8:30 in the morning to register for their day in the life of a Choate student. On the March 27th visiting day, families were greeted by an excited wild boar (the school mascot) waiting for them just below the steps to the Andrew Mellon Library. The dining hall was illuminated with strands of Christmas lights strung from the ceilings—in stark contrast to the darkened lights of the Green Cup competition days.
This year, Choate released acceptances to fewer than 25% of the 1600 applicants on March 10th. Prospective incoming Choaties hail from 35 different states and 26 different countries including France, Papua New Guinea, Norway, Denmark, and Kenya. According to Mr. Ray Diffley III, Director of Admissions at Choate, this year’s applicants were “stronger and from further afield” than in years past.
Apart from the rising freshman class, 60 new fourth formers, and 25 to 30 new fifth formers have been accepted. Of these, about fifty-five to sixty-five percent typically choose to enroll in Choate. Those who do not enroll at Choate also consider rival schools such as Hotchkiss, Deerfield Academy, Exeter, Andover, Lawrenceville, and Taft. Many students choose Choate because “in a nutshell it’s the kind of students and faculty that are here now—along with our combination of warmth, academic and extracurricular opportunities, our diversity, our location and our food,” commented Mr. Diffley.
Following the Registration, families and accepted students attended a Special Interest Fair in the Hill House Dining Hall. There, they were presented with an opportunity to talk with students with special interests such as “women in law” in order to get a sense of how Choate would match with their own personal interests. The prospective students were able to ask general as well as questions about Choate. Sixth former Kelly McDonough ’07 was asked a lot about her experiences at Choate. She said that “a lot of the students were pretty quiet; they tended to stay with their groups of families and hosts, and they seemed quite curious about Choate. They were nervous at first, but all of them loosened up as the conversation went on.”
After the special interest fair, accepted students attended a Student Life Program, meant to inform prospective students about life at Choate. The prospective students then attended classes, in order to gain a sense of the learning atmosphere at Choate while their parents broke for coffee.
Angelica Calabrese ’10 acted as a free agent host for students who arrived without signing up prior to the day. She noted that her guest “was pretty much set on Choate” and that she “heard a lot of people say that they really wanted to come here.” Parents had the option of attending information sessions or a campus tour, followed by a lunch with faculty in the Hill House Dining Hall. Then both students and parents attended Reflections in the Seymour St. John Chapel, followed by an opportunity to ask follow-up questions to Department Heads and others in the Sally Hart Lodge.
Although Spring Visit days are meant to reflect the average school day here at Choate, school pride is perhaps at its highest during these three days in spring. The boar waves enthusiastically, and the lights in the dining hall shine brightly. As the school looks to draw in another class of exceptional young students, there is an increased sense of excitement about the future.
